Photo Gallery:Murder suspect arrested SAN BERNARDINO -- Police have arrested a registered sex offender in the November home-invasion robbery and killing of 76-year-old Mary Beth Blaskey, a crime Police Chief Robert Handy said shocked the conscience of the community.

Jerome Anthony Rogers, 57, of San Bernardino, was arrested on suspicion of murder Friday and booked into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, Handy said. Police said sexual crimes were involved in Blaskey's death but did not elaborate.

The arrest was a major development in what police described as a complex and time-consuming investigation.

"We have spent tens of thousands of hours on this case since November," Handy said.

Handy said investigators believe at least

one other person was involved in the slaying.

Blaskey, a retired clerk and secretary for San Bernardino City Unified School District, was found dead by one of her sons Nov. 14 inside her Fremontia Drive home.

The home had been ransacked, and her 2001 Lexus ES300 was missing. Police found the vehicle abandoned on the northeast side of town Dec. 1.Handy said at a news conference Monday at police headquarters that forensic personnel spent more than 24 hours processing evidence at the home. They gathered about 300 pieces of evidence.Investigators made more than 70 arrests in connection with the case. Many of those arrested had reputations as burglars.

Sgt. Gary Robertson said people who knew Rogers saw him in late December with items they thought were out of place for him. One of those people, who had heard about the fatal break-in, called police.

"That's literally what put us on to him," Robertson said.

Rogers, who had been convicted of committing sex crimes with a child younger than 14 years old, denied being involved in Blaskey's death.

Police said Rogers drifted from home to home in the city and frequently spent time on the north end.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that he asked residents for work at their homes.

Police did arrest him late last year on suspicion of failing to register as a sex offender. He was released from custody after receiving 36 months probation for the offense, Handy said.

Police received confirmation on Friday that Rogers' DNA was found at the scene.

Handy said officers were still investigating Blaskey's killing, as well as two other similar cases in the past seven years.

"We're far from done, and we will not rest until we have all three suspects in custody for all three of these cases," he said.

The woman's death shook neighbors in the upscale and normally quiet Valencia area of the city and prompted several community meetings that urged senior citizens to take precautions.

Police in January posted a $10,000 reward for information in the case.

The same reward was also offered for information in the 2010 killing of Wanda Lee Paulin and the killing of Josephine Frances Kelly in 2005.

All three women were found dead in their ransacked homes.

Blaskey's death preceded a rash of home-invasion robberies in San Bernardino and surrounding areas early this year.

In January, at least one robber entered a home in an unincorporated area near San Bernardino and beat an elderly woman and her husband before fleeing with valuables.

Lorna Gable, 84, died about a month after the attack.

But Handy stopped short of saying the three San Bernardino killings and other incidents were related because, he said, the incidents were still under investigation.

He did say the $10,000 reward in the Blaskey case is still up for grabs.The arrest brought hope to relatives of the other two women killed in home-invasion robberies. Paulin's, Kelly's and Blaskey's relatives attended the news conference.Sherman Ballard, Paulin's son-in-law, said he was surprised at the depth of the Blaskey investigation.

"I feel confident that our P.D. will solve this crime," he said.

Phillip Kelly, the son of Josephine Kelly, said he was glad to see progress in the case.

"We'd still like to see our case be solved, but it's encouraging to see this progress," he said.

San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris called Blaskey's death "tragic in the extreme" and urged people with information on the cases to report it.